This invention relates to improved apparatus for harvesting crops such as berries on low plants and in particular is directed to apparatus for harvesting low bush (commonly known as wild) blueberries.
Over the past many years blueberries have been picked using manual labor. In early years the blueberries were simply picked by hand in suitable containers; however this slow, tedious procedure is totally unsuited for commerical operations. Consequently, picking rakes were developed allowing workers to strip the blueberries from the plants with the stripped blueberries, together with a certain amount of debris, being thereafter put through a fanning machine to remove the debris.
In more recent years the demand for wild blueberries has increased substantially and significant export markets have been developed. In certain areas, the demand for manual labor during the relatively short picking season has placed a strain on the available labor pool. Current labor rates also place a strain on profit margins so therefore the need has arisen for apparatus capable of harvesting a substantial acreage of berries per unit of time in an acceptable manner.
A number of years ago experimental work was carried out at the University of Maine in an effort to develop a commercial blueberry harvester. The picking head there developed was incorporated into a harvesting machine which is described in Canadian Patent No. 961,275 issued Jan. 21, 1975 and equivalent U.S. Pat. No. 3,648,447 naming Charles G. Burton as inventor. Although a substantial amount of work went into this machine in an effort to make it work properly, such efforts, at least in part, were considered unsuccessful by those skilled in the art and the machine was not a commercial success. The machine was incapable of withstanding the rugged conditions encountered during use, was prone to damage, and did not pick nearly as efficiently as was initially predicted.